In Bocas del Toro, Panama, a coral reef rescue grew into the first project ever to earn a perfect 4-7-8-17 score: 4/4 on the Rotary Four-Way Test, 7/7 Rotary Areas of Focus, 8/8 Pillars of Positive Peace and 17/17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. This is the story of how it got there, and how any club can use the same tools.
Full disclosure. The Panama Project and 47817.org are both run by the Rotary Club of Newport Beach. The perfect score did not come on the first try. We used the 47817.org platform as a coaching tool, and each time the project fell short we changed the project itself, not the paperwork. That is exactly how we hope every club will use it.
It started with one reef
At the start of the pandemic, Rotarian Steve Bender found himself in Bocas del Toro and saw, while snorkeling, how quickly the reefs were declining. That became Rotary Reefs: community managed coral nurseries and protected marine zones at Isla Solarte. It was a strong environmental project. But on the 4-7-8-17 framework it was not yet complete. In 2022 the Institute for Economics and Peace wrote that Rotary Reefs touched 7 of the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace.
How the platform helped
The 47817.org Boost tool works in three steps. Describe the project. See which boxes light up across the Four-Way Test, the Areas of Focus, the Pillars of Peace and the Global Goals. Then refine it together, looking for real upgrades that connect the project to more areas and goals, and test the result with your club.
For Panama, every empty box was a question about what the islands still needed. Families off the grid had no reliable power or clean water. Children lacked regular health and dental care. Local students had few chances to learn about the reef next door. The rainforest was losing the trees a critically endangered bird depends on. Answering those questions turned one reef project into seven connected initiatives.
Seven initiatives, one living laboratory
- Rotary Reefs. Coral nurseries and protected marine zones at Isla Solarte. A nurse shark now lives on the reef full time.
- Solar and clean water. Clean energy and safe water for island communities off the grid.
- The Great Green Macaw. More than 15,000 mountain almond trees planted at Dolphin Bay to bring back habitat for a critically endangered bird.
- Ocean health. Debris recovery and ocean lessons for local students with One Earth One Ocean.
- Health and dental care. Floating Doctors, Ayuda International and Rotarian volunteers bring fluoride treatments and primary care to island children.
- Youth and volunteer travel. University students and volunteers serve side by side with local Rotarians.
- Culture. Honoring the Ngäbe, Afro Caribbean, Hispanic and expat communities of Bocas del Toro as a source of strength.
The proof, box by box
A perfect score should be easy to check. We published the evidence for every item, all 4 questions, 7 areas, 8 pillars and 17 goals, on the project’s Top 10 page on GlobalClimateMonth.org. A few examples:
- Is it the truth? Results are measured and reported: more than 15,000 trees planted, coral nurseries tracked, and a resident nurse shark on the restored reef.
- Water, sanitation and hygiene. Clean water systems for off grid island homes.
- Equitable distribution of resources. Solar power, clean water and health care reach families who were left out.
- Goal 14, Life below water. Coral nurseries, outplanting and protected marine zones.
- Goal 17, Partnerships for the goals. One Earth One Ocean, Floating Doctors, Ayuda International, Tropical Arts, the Lionfish Project, Ara Manzanillo and several Rotary clubs.
What a perfect score means
A perfect score is not a trophy. It means a project reaches across every part of the framework at once: environment, health, education, livelihoods and peace. The instant rating is a starting point. Your team’s judgment and the Four-Way Test make the final call, and the work on the ground has to back up every box.
Seeing the coral colonies firsthand made clear that reef restoration is possible and urgently needed.
Donna Jones, President, Rotary Club of Ojai West
Built to be copied
The Panama Project was designed so other coastal communities can follow the same model. Rotarians from Ojai West and San Luis Obispo de Tolosa have already joined the work. Your club does not need seven initiatives to start. It needs one good project and the willingness to ask what else it could do.
- Rate your project for free with Boost
- Apply for the 2027 Global Success Projects
- Visit ThePanamaProject.org and come volunteer in Bocas del Toro
Sources: ThePanamaProject.org; 47817.org Boost; Institute for Economics and Peace, Vision of Humanity, July 2022.